An elevator comprises an elevator car, lifting machinery, ropes, and a counter weight. The elevator car is supported on a transport frame being formed by a sling or a car frame. The transport frame surrounds the elevator car. The lifting machinery comprises a traction sheave, a machinery brake and an electric motor being connected via a shaft. The electric motor is used to rotate the traction sheave and the machinery brake is used to stop the rotation of the traction sheave. The lifting machinery is situated in a machine room. The lifting machinery moves the car upwards and downwards in a vertically extending elevator shaft. The transport frame and thereby also the elevator car is carried by the ropes, which connect the elevator car over the traction sheave to the counter weight. The transport frame of the elevator car is further supported with gliding means at guide rails extending in the vertical direction in the elevator shaft. The gliding means can comprise rolls rolling on the guide rails or gliding shoes gliding on the guide rails when the elevator car is mowing upwards and downwards in the elevator shaft. The guide rails are supported through fish plates on fastening brackets that are supported at the side wall structures of the elevator shaft. The gliding means engaging with the guide rails keep the elevator car in position in the horizontal plane when the elevator car moves upwards and downwards in the elevator shaft. The counter weight is supported in a corresponding way on guide rails supported on the wall structure of the elevator shaft. The elevator car transports people and/or goods between the landings in the building. The elevator shaft can be formed so that the wall structure is formed of solid walls or so that the wall structure is formed of an open steel structure.
The guide rails are formed of guide rail elements of a certain length. The guide rail elements are connected in the installation phase end-on-end one after the other in the elevator shaft. When aligning elevator guide rails every bracket and fish plate associated with the bracket needs to be adjusted and the straightness of the guide rail is measured locally. Such a prior art system requires a lot of manual adjustment work and it may require multiple adjustment passes. The quality of the alignment will vary depending on the mechanic who is doing the alignment.